Canada Rallies to Beat U.S. in Women’s Hockey

Megan Bozek of the United States, left, was pinned to the boards by Jocelyne Larocque during Canada’s 3-2 victory in a preliminary round game.Credit
Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

SOCHI, Russia — Since 2010, the United States women’s hockey team got younger and faster while Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser, the game’s gold standard, merely grew older. That was the running narrative, anyway, as the Canadians, the three-time defending Olympic champions, lost four consecutive games to the speedy, streaking Americans in the lead-up to the Sochi Games.

Wickenheiser did not have a point at the 2013 world championships in Canada, won by the United States, and as she battled injuries, her spot on the Olympic team, a given since 1998, no longer seemed automatic.

When Wickenheiser made her fifth Winter Olympics team but lost her captaincy at age 35, the symbolism was easier to read than the Cyrillic alphabet. The time had come for somebody else to lead Canada.

If the Sochi Games are Wickenheiser’s bell lap, starting with her turn as her country’s flag-bearer in last Friday’s opening ceremony, she is summoning a wicked finishing kick. On Wednesday, she was the difference maker in Canada’s 3-2 victory over the United States in a preliminary game at Shayba Arena.

The United States struck first, scoring in the 38th minute on a power-play goal by Hilary Knight, who beat Charline Labonté, who finished with 25 saves. The American goaltender Jessie Vetter stopped 19 shots in the first two periods, but in the third minute of the third, with Canada on the power play, Wickenheiser sent a crisp pass to Meghan Agosta, who beat Vetter. Less than two minutes later, Wickenheiser added an even-strength goal on a shot that dribbled off Vetter’s glove and trickled across the goal line.

The Americans protested that the whistle had sounded to stop play before the puck crossed the line, but after a review, the goal stood. Agosta, who turned 27 Wednesday, scored on a breakaway with less than six minutes left for what proved to be the game-winning goal after the United States’ Anne Schleper scored with 65 seconds left.

The United States has eight skaters younger than 24. On the two goals in which Wickenheiser worked her wizardry, the average age of the skaters on the ice for the American team was under 22 years.

Wickenheiser, old legs and all, played 21 minutes 38 seconds. Only one Canadian, 26-year-old Catherine Ward, and two American players, the 24-year-old Knight and the 26-year-old Gigi Marvin, spent more time on the ice.

“I don’t think I’m old, that’s probably the most important thing,” Wickenheiser said. “I think it comes down to making the plays out there when they’re there, keeping your head about you and knowing that no matter what a pressure cooker it is, it’s ultimately another game against another really good team.”

In the record bin of life, Wickenheiser sees experience as the “B” side of age.

“I think our team has the experience and composure,” she said. “When the chips are down, we know how to win.”

It has become like a broken record, the United States losing to Canada in the Olympics. Since beating Canada for the gold in 1998 in women’s hockey’s Olympic debut, the United States has lost to Canada in the finals in 2002 and 2010 by a combined score of 5-2. Canada has won 18 straight games at the Olympics.

With both teams guaranteed a spot in the semifinals, Wednesday’s game was psychological warfare. The Canadians were out to show they are the same old juggernaut. They look looser and more cohesive under their new coach, Kevin Dineen, than they did under Dan Church, who stepped down in December.

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Kessel, 22, added: “It hurts. Every game matters and you want to win every one.”

Asked to assess her team’s performance, United States Coach Katey Stone said, “I feel a little indifferent about how our team played today.”

Stone and Dineen sat side by side for their postgame news conference. When it was over, they rose to leave and Dineen said to Stone, “See you down the road.”

Both hope their next showdown will be in next week’s gold medal game. Their rivalry almost demands it. During his N.H.L. playing career, Dineen got an up-close view of the Boston Red Sox-Yankees rivalry while playing in Hartford and the Michigan State-Ohio State rivalry while playing in Columbus.

“I think this one is the real deal,” he said.

A version of this article appears in print on February 13, 2014, on Page B15 of the New York edition with the headline: Experience Is an Edge as Canada Tops U.S. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe